All Psychology majors participate in a field trip to Chicago, Illinois. The purpose of the trip is to provide an urban, cross-cultural experience as well as exposure to the diversity and universality of human experience and behavior. Students are encouraged to live out the love of Jesus in connecting with the people of diverse backgrounds and ethnicities. These interactions provide the basis for a four- to five-page reaction paper upon returning to IWU. Students reflect on the impact of this experience in terms of their personal development, faith and sense of life calling.
Social Work and Leadership students have the opportunity to participate in International Servant Leadership Experience/Social Work Practice (LDR-265/SWK-357). This summer-term course provides an experiential learning process in an international setting that allows students to develop leadership skills, understand populations at risk in our global society, assess social environments that may be barriers for client enhancement, and learn how to address these issues from a cultural perspective. Students utilize a learning cycle to combine concrete experiences with reflective observation, abstract conceptualization and active experimentation as a way of developing as leaders and professional social workers. The international setting for this course is Hungary, which allows the students to utilize a methodology of interaction with another socio-ethnic culture as a way to learn how to interact with all types of diverse cultures. There are several evening sessions of pre-field training and planning. Social Work students conduct a culturally focused needs assessment and practice program development and possible implementation of programs.